The present invention pertains generally to arborists and tree husbandry, and more particularly to bracing or stabilizing newly transplanted trees or trees in wind-swept areas.
A newly transplanted tree must be braced or supported with stakes or with guy wires and anchors in order to allow the root system time to develop and sufficiently anchor the tree so that it does not tilt or fall under its own weight or as the result of wind. The conventional method of bracing newly transplanted trees is to use one or more rope or wire lines to brace the tree to two or three stakes in the ground near the tree. The lines are usually fastened to the tree trunk at least halfway up the trunk so that the lines have enough leverage on the trunk to maintain its stability in high winds.
It is well known that bracing lines have a tendency to saw or cut into the tree trunk as the tree sways in the wind causing girdling and/or trunk damage thus disfiguring the tree trunk and/or exposing the tree to the infiltration of insects or disease. Accordingly, garden hose is often used around the lines along their length where they engage the tree trunk directly to shield the trunk form the knifing action of the lines and to disperse the force of the engaging lines over a wider area of the trunk to avoid girdling. Nonetheless, because the hose tends to be made of relative flexible material the engaging force of the line or lines is still focused over a relatively small area of the hose and trunk underneath such that the hose also tends to saw into the tree trunk, although to a lesser degree than an uncovered line. Moreover, it is usually necessary to use some uncovered line to secure and tighten the covered line around the trunk at the desired height so that it does not slip down, particularly in the three point system in which the lines pull downwardly. If not properly fastened over and around the hose covered lines, or if displaced, these uncovered lines can engage and damage the trunk.
Aside from their tendency to girdle a tree trunk, conventional tree bracing techniques can be difficult to tighten into place, particularly for persons working alone, due to the difficulty in keeping the line synched around the trunk at its desired position while the ends of the lines are anchored to the stakes. While, the homeowner may have use for such a system, workers planting large numbers of trees along roads or in re-forestation areas have a need to work quickly and efficiently, and often they are working alone on each planting.
Accordingly, there is a need for a tree bracing system which avoids girdling and/or damage to the tree trunk and which is easy and efficient to implement for a worker operating alone, who must often plant more than a hundred trees in a day, each of which must be braced or staked into a stable, upright position.
The present invention is directed towards a tree staking system designed to support or provide supplementary bracing to a tree so as to maintain it in a substantially upright or other predetermined position when the tree is replanted. Such supplemental bracing is normally required during the replanting process and is usually continued until the roots of the tree take firm hold. More specifically, the subject tree staking assembly comprises at least two support members, although in certain embodiments, a plurality of support members may be used. Referred to as a xe2x80x9cV-strap,xe2x80x9d to describe the finished fold of the woven textile rectangular web as described herein, the assembly is used to removably, but securely position the support members in spaced relation to one another about the circumference of a trunk of the tree being supported.
In the preferred embodiment, to be described in greater detail hereinafter, the attachment assembly comprises a woven strap, preferably formed of a high-strength flexible plastic material. Moreover, the strap comprises at each end, reinforcing grommet assembly, in the center of which is a hole of sufficient size to permit a wire or fastening material to pass, which in use attaches the V-strap to a support member (stake or post). In practice, the V-strap is opened to encircle a tree is encompassed within the two V-strap strips, and then the open end of each strip is brought together on the other side of the tree so that the reinforcers on the open end of each strip are aligned, and a wire or fastening material is passed through both grommets and used to securely bind the second ends of the V-strap to the second stake. The fastening material can be tightened if it becomes loose, or if the tree shifts or settles, or if the stakes move over time; or it can be loosened as the diameter of the tree expands with growth. The woven material of the tree strap does not stretch.
The V-strap is positioned at the appropriate locations relative to the tree trunk being supported. Accordingly, the V-strap is easily and loosely fitted in surrounding relation to a predetermined segment of the tree trunk by a single individual, such that that fixed engagement between the support members and the tree is achieved, but tree itself is in no way damaged or injured by the process. Once the tree strap is positioned as desired, the fastening material can be easily xe2x80x98tightenedxe2x80x99 and reaffixed to the stake. This in turn forces and holds the tree in a fixed position relative to the support members without the need for guy wires or ropes or anchors into the ground about the tree trunk. The V-strap assembly is designed to remove installer variability with regard to the tension applied to the tree in the stabilization process.
The V-strap about the tree and attachment to the support members engages the support members, without actually encircling or girdling the tree, even though a significant bracing force is applied to the tree trunk. When properly installed, the V-strap takes all of the stress away from the tree, and places the stabilizing pressure on the stakes. The tree effectively floats within a restricted pocket created by the V-strap assembly. The V-strap has no detrimental effect on the tree, thereby allowing exposure of the majority of the exterior surface portions of the tree trunk to air, water, etc. Again blemishing or marring of the exterior surface of a tree by elimination of the protective wrapping material is thereby eliminated.
To apply the proper bracing force to the tree trunk, the V-strap cooperatively engages each of the support members. More specifically, the V-strap has been reduced to such efficiency and simplicity that it eliminates the need for any additional components, and only the fastening is needed to attach the stabilizing process to the stakes. Alternately, a plurality of V-straps may be positioned to concurrently engage a tree to three or four or more support members.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a staking system designed to support a tree in a predetermined, upright position, and which is capable of being installed or mounted in a bracing position by a single worker.
Another primary object of the present invention is to provide a staking system, which can be installed and removed from its operative, supporting position relative to a tree without the need for specialized parts or tools.
Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide a staking system, which applies and maintains adequate bracing or supporting forces to the trunk portion of a tree about a circumference thereof without causing substantial blemishing or scarring of the tree trunk at the points of application of such supportive forces.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a staking system for a tree, wherein the operative, structural components are removably disposed in predetermined operative positions, and one end of the tree strap is fixedly attached to the other.
It is also an important object of the present invention to provide a staking system incorporating preferably two trunk-engaging support members, wherein the tree strap is easily and efficiently positionable at any point on the stake or about the circumference of a tree trunk.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more clear when the drawings, as well as the detailed description, are taken into consideration.